Below
is a photo of me operating a friction crane in Albany
International Airport in 1996. The crane has ground modification
equipment installed on the lines and the work was supervised by
Hayward Baker.

The
construction field was not my first choice of an occupation as I
was a newly unemployed salesperson with no college background. I
was very happy to find that given some know how and experience I
could possibly be making allot more money than in retail or other
minimum wage jobs, running heavy equipment for a living!

As
a woman, I feel that the non-traditional job market can be very
fulfilling and lucrative if you apply yourself and are willing to
train and educate yourself. Having a good support system at home
is very important, in other words, someone else to pick up the
kids early or baby-sit on snow or sick days, doctor appointments
and such. You also need a car that's reliable and YOU must be
reliable as well. There are NO excuses on most jobs. You must be
on time or early! There are many people that are relying on one
another to make the whole team work efficiently and expediently.
And especially if you are a UNION member we have to show that our
TRAINING and EXPERIENCE and PRIDE in our work will make the whole
job a more safe and more proficient and profitable one. Safety
always is #1.

"Women
face multiple barriers," added Ray Bramucci, assistant
secretary of labor for employment and training. "Apprenticeships
increase women's competitiveness in the job market and we want
more women to be able to benefit from them."

Nowadays,
I have found that there is allot less problems from our Brother
union members as they realize that there are many women that CAN
DO the job as WELL as a man. They also know that there are allot
of women supporting their households and they are not out there
trying to take some average guys job. I have found in general that
my male counterparts are more respectful and generally great to
work with than when I worked in the banking trade or retail
management. The point is to be as hard a worker as you can to show
that you appreciate the opportunity to be out there making the
same money and the same benefits as men. There are many people in
general looking to make more than minimum wage but they might not
have the ability or the stamina to work in this field. If you show
you are willing to get into your work and apply yourself and
listen to advice you will find many coworkers willing to help you.
We are all in this together and we must work that way!

"The
number of women in high-wage non-traditional occupations has
remained unchanged over the past 20 years," Secretary of
Labor Alexis M. Herman said.

I
have allot to learn and I have been working as an operator for 15
years or so. The thing is with operating
equipment, as with
other jobs, you need experience on each piece of equipment to make
you a well rounded operator. Unfortunately, sometimes you might be
sent out on a black top roller for a few years in a row. Operating
nothing but a roller. This is a great job but you aren't getting
any other experience on equipment. The contractor is also slow to
allow a novice to jump on equipment that he or she hasn't had
experience on. So you have to find ways to jump on equipment in a
less stressful environment, like at a dump or on a job that is
still in it's groundbreaking stage. That way there are less
obstacles around, above or below! The perfect scenario is that all
your knowledge would come form the training school but
unfortunately that is not the case. The school can teach you the
basic operation and maintenance but every job is different. Also,
every piece of equipment is different. Even if you get a similar
loader or backhoe, the hydraulics might be slower or faster, the
brakes better or worse, the steering harder or easier, the levers
might even be hooked up the opposite way so a forward movement
will make the boom lift instead of lower! This can be dangerous so
you must accustom yourself to each and every machine once aboard
and after checking for proper maintenance.

Anyone
interested in sending photos or stories, please email me. I am
interested in collecting photos of women operating equipment,
installing electrical, plumbing, carpenters, iron workers, etc.
If you can send a story along with the photos as well as contact
or credit info. I am planning a page or pages dedicated to them.
Click on the coffee cup and email me! Anybody that knows me knows
I go nowhere without my cup!

I
hope I haven't discouraged you. I'm not that experienced to be
giving advice but I'd just like to give you some of my ideas on
the subject. If you will be working Heavy Highway then you had
better get ready for it's own set of problems. It's great to have
good kidneys, I'm blessed with them, but that does not necessarily
mean that you can hold for 4-5 hours at a time. You shouldn't have
to, but believe me you might just end up looking for a tree or
bush in the distance because there are no facilities in the area.
Just because you are a woman don't expect that everyone is going
to change the way things are to suit you. I agree things have
gotten better but there are still times that there are no
bathrooms around for Anybody! You have to learn to take that good
with the bad. You also have to be able to tolerate extreme
temperatures and conditions at times. Learning how to dress and
keep warm or cool will be very important. Some days just staying
dry will be the task. Wearing proper equipment for each job is
very important and as you work you will find the things that work
best for you.

I
have already mentioned that having experience on multiple pieces
of equipment is one of the most important things you can do to
keep yourself employable and called back year after year or asked
to Hold. Being asked to hold by an employer means that you are not
calling the union hall to put you back on the list of unemployed
operators. You are waiting for that specific employer to call you
back. That could be a great thing if it is a definite call back at
a specified time but if things are slow for that employer or they
do not get the jobs they were forecasting you may be home waiting
for longer than expected. If you than call the hall, you will then
be placed on the list. This could delay your going out for months.
At our hall if you are called out for more than 21 days on a job
you are than placed on the bottom of the list. But remember if
your the only one holding a hazmat card or a crane license or can
operate a dozer grading you will jump to the top if a call for
that specific item is needed.

There
are a number of ways to make you more employable other than the
amount of machines you can operate. If you can apply yourself and
become an expert operator on certain pieces of equipment such as
large excavating hoes, cranes, grade bulldozer, grader, gradall,
Vermeer trenchers, large milling machines, etc. If you are
especially qualified on certain pieces of equipment you may find
that you will never have to hop from one machine to another on a
job. At least not on a daily basis.

Excellent
Crane operators are revered for their experience and knowledge and
still hold that Respect that Operating Engineers used to get from
everyone. I am finally starting to see how differently that crane
operators are treated. It' s not "do this or do that!"
It's "when you get a chance could you...? That is a great
difference and one that I will not take advantage of. I am finally
enjoying the fruits of my labor and experience. I am proud to be
both an Operating Engineer and a lady.

Nowadays,
everyone is trying to jump on equipment and act like it's no big
deal but only the seasoned operator knows the experience he has
under his belt is the deciding factor for both performance and
safety. Also, all trades should respect one anther's individual
job specific and not attempt to take others bread and butter from
them. Everyone is an expert in their own field and THAT IS THE
PURPOSE for the SPECIFIC TRADES! Just because Anyone can
shovel doesn't mean we should pick one up and start digging! Just
because everyone knows how to drive doesn't mean that we should
jump in a truck and start rolling! Remember to be respectful of
others jobs and they will be respectful of yours.

"My
friends, it is SOLIDARITY of labor we want. We do not want to find
fault with each other, but to solidify our forces and say to each
other: We must be together; our masters are joined together and we
must do the same thing."

WOMEN
NEED to prove themselves repeatedly, despite their track record,
Chowdhry emphasizes. She believes that these barriers are societal
and can be found in all walks of life. She hopes that her
generation will have "paved the way" for subsequent
generations

However,
women should be wary of falling into the trap of feeling that they
need to know everything about a particular position before they
take the plunge.

"Men
learn on the job all the time. We can do the same thing,"
Carter says. "You don't have to be the expert about
everything." As Wood-Black says, sometimes women just need to
"jump off the cliff."

To
advance, women must let their accomplishments be known. "You
have to be your own best trumpeter and tell the world how really
fabulous you are," Davis says.

The
most important thing is that the working environment must help
women find satisfaction. "It's much more important to have
women in the workforce who are happy and who are content with
their careers and really feel like they're contributing and making
a difference in their personal lives and in their professional
lives than it is to have all the heads of the Fortune 500
companies be women," Davis says. "We don't want to force
these people to do something they don't want to do. We also have
to be sure that the systems are in place to enable them to do that
if that is what they choose to do. There shouldn't be anything
that looks like gender barriers in the workplace preventing them
from accomplishing that."

Cynthia LeClaire has
been an Operating Engineer for well over 19 years now and I have
had the opportunity to work with her 2 times in the past. She is
dedicated, witty and professional and I hope to have the pleasure
again in the near future. Cindy and I were the only two Woman
Crane operators at the Athens Bechtel site. Cindy has recently
worked on another local site at RPI.

Irene Lounsbury is
another of our Local 106 operators and has
been around long before I started. An experienced operator on
bulldozers, forklifts, loaders and the like, she and her husband
have been around heavy equipment since childhood. Receiving her 25
year pin, I know it has been a long hard journey but she has paved
the way for other female operators to give it their best. I hope
to have the pleasure of working along side her in the near future.